Topics in Chinese Culture
Course Number: 82-234
SPRING 2025: Environment and Society in Modern Chinese Literature & Visual Culture
Course taught in English!
This course covers key topics and texts in both environmental humanities and modern Chinese studies. We will explore Chinese environmental imaginations and realities from global and interdisciplinary perspectives. Thematically, it focuses on deforestation, chemical pollution, climate change, ethnic environmental perspectives, toxic waste and species extinction. The readings include sci-fi novellas, feature films, documentaries, environmental history and new media. Each thematic topic is paired with a key concept in environmental humanities, enabling students to situate their study within the broader scholarship of the field. We will also engage with significant theoretical works by Rob Nixon, Karen Thornber, Ursula Heise, Anna Tsing, William Cronon and others. All materials are provided in English translation; no knowledge of Chinese is required. Ample time will be given to students for their final projects during the last month of the course.
All materials will have English translations; No Chinese language required.
Units: 9